Design for Life - David Michael Clarke & Neal Beggs
[La Sarthe, 2008]
This text was published for the third of three exhibitions collectively entitled, 'Architecture and Humanity'. The project was curated by Neal Beggs and David Michael Clarke for the FRAC des Pays de la Loire.
It's hard to organise an exhibition in a church without thinking about God, even if that church has been deconsecrated. This is because churches are designed that way. From the ground plans to the steeples, from the wrought iron work to the embroidery, from the stained-glass windows, to the woodwork, even the simple proportions of the space are conceived to humble us before 'the almighty'. This isn't just a christian thing. All religions use design to the glory of God (or to the gods as is sometimes the case).
Although some countries, such as Great Britain, still maintain a national religion (Queen Elizabeth is also known as 'the defender of the faith', and that faith is christianity), today, in many countries, power has shifted away from religion towards the state. France opted to create a pronounced and profound separation between the two. States, like religions, utilises or supports (depending on your point of view) art and design for its own ends.
This is not meant to be a provocative statement, and we hope it isn't taken as such. It is not our intention to produce a didactic exhibition that illustrates a point of view. Furthermore (with perhaps the exception of God is Design by Adel Abdessemed) it would be unfair to say that the selected works directly address these issues. However, each work contains certain elements that, when exposed in a certain context, become more pronounced. And of course, the works play off each other, as much as they play off the site. Unexpected meanings arise.
For this exhibition, the 3rd episode of our journey through the Sarthe, we've been thinking about interior design, which in many ways can be seen as the more 'intimate' side of architecture. Interior design is something that we share. Everybody does it. We begin as children, experimenting with our bedrooms. Then comes the appartements, the houses, and all the rest. Some of us go on to make a career of it, designing waiting rooms or restaurants, airports, even palaces.
Human beings aren't the only creatures that build. Birds are great at it. But most of our friends from the animal kingdom never seem to get beyond functionality. They never seem to do anything for the sole reason that it 'looks nice'. Maybe decoration is the mark of humanity after all.
Artists
Adel Abdessemed, Julien Audebert, Roderick Buchanan, Hubert Duprat, Ernest T., Gérard Garouste, Karen Knorr, Yvan Le Bozec, Genêt Mayor, Gabriel Orozco, Martha Rosler, TTrioreau.